Re: Meido (Play Thread)

by eagle788 Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:48 am

Obsidian steppes over to the rucksack and quickly pulls it out from under the man to wake him. then he slips out from under the tarp and goes in search of Flipper and Pall, ducking and dodging his way through the large crowds.

(he is currently wearing his silken armor and breastplate covered in a heavy cloak to protect him from the sun).

(canceling Shade walker, and void stares)

by CodexGigas Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:25 pm

Other than a house servant laboriously copying Old Realm from a scroll to the lintel of a side door, the alley itself was empty of activity. A quick check of the adjoining courtyard's side door showed that it was locked. Embers smoldered in bronze braziers outside of both homes; one smelled of recently burned joss sticks.

by **DagonXIII** Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:57 am

Whatever It was it seemed to have gone, but he stayed vigilant as he continued back down the market street. He had planned to spend as little time in the city as possible until the celebrations were complete, but he would have to avoid leading any pursuers directly to his home.
Just off the main street a small shop sat as if in meditation: quiet and sad, if you were not looking for it you might miss it. The sign read "Blades Sharpened and Polished. 1 yen." Pall had to duck to get through the door, and inside knelt a wrinkled, brown man polishing a plain green daiklave. He wiped a piece of rice paper down the blade, sheathed it, and set it carefully beside his knees. Then, in a graceful motion he turned to Pall an bowed. "Welcome, set your barrel by the door and sit down. My wife should be bringing tea shortly, so you may rest awhile." he said.
There was a curt thunk as the barrel landed by the door and Pall sat before the man. He began. "The sign said that you polished weapons; will you sell me some oil and powder."
The man looked up at Pall, straining his neck a bit to do so. "Hmm... do you have your weapon with you?"
"I do not. I don't want to draw attention to myself."
The old man nodded.

by **AlaskanWyvern** Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:10 am

Flipper went to a part of the market that hadn't been razed by a wayward yeddim to go shopping. The caravans had probably yielded all the excitement that they would for the day, unless there were more handlers who were spectacularly incompetent. He had some better things to do. Most importantly, he needed a more detailed map or two. So, he sought out the local cartographer's shop and went inside. One inside, he flagged down the nearest person he could find and opened his map of the region. It was very general, mostly marking boundaries of countries, major cities, and large landmarks. "How much for a map of this area?" he asked, indicating a certain portion of his current map.

by CodexGigas Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:04 pm

((Feel free to write for any NPCs you come up with; pretty much anything reasonable goes.))

by **AlaskanWyvern** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:22 am

((just wasn't sure what the map would cost.))

Flipper managed to flag down a man in his early twenties. He didn't seem quite old enough to be the cartographer himself, but possibly he was an assistant or elder apprentice.
"Well, I should say we do. With all of the ruins about, we tend to just keep maps like that in stock. Some new scavenger hoping to make it big always comes along and buys them soon enough," he explained. "Hold on, I'll get you one."
The man went over to a large-ish rack of shelves on the wall behind the counter and searched briefly. Once he found Flipper's map, he brought it up to the front and laid it out. "This good?" he asked.

Flipper bent over and examined the workmanship. It was clear, it looked reasonably accurate, and it had the temple on it. "It's great," he replied. "I'll take it."

He pulled out the requisite coin and handed them to the man. "Pleasure doing business with you," the man said. "By the way, do you smell fish?"

"Not anymore; they get offended when I do that!" Flipper replied jokingly, trying to detract attention as he gathered the map and hurried out the door.

From there, he went back to his room above the Wok in the Park. His landlady gave him a weird look as he went back to the stairs. She tended to do that; even though he paid on time, Flipper thought she was suspicious about him for some reason. Other than the whole "being a Lunar" thing, he wasn't terribly different from your average migrant with some spare cash. It was time to check out the map and plot a course.

by **DagonXIII** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:43 am

((As the only person alive who follows exalted pricing... I'd guess about an yen, maybe more if its a good map. That's about a day's pay. Don't ask about silver. Just... Don't))

The old man reached for his sword, never breaking gaze with Pall. "A weapon is not merely a tool in the hands of a Martial Artist." He said, drawing the green blade from it's sheath. With a flick the sword stood at ready, hiding the man's face with it's width.
Pall's entire body tensed, ready, nay excited, to move. He grinned, he shook, he waited. The old man will strike first as Pall will dodge forward and slam the old man into the wall. He would of course give him a chance to surrender, but...
The sword laid down soft as a fallen feather before the old man. He chuckled " Sorry. I'm sure you understand; I spent years developing habits on how to draw a sword. Present the sword, then strike. I mean you no harm."
Pall relaxed his body, disappointed, and leaned back onto his legs. "Were you once a monk?" The old man was wearing appropriate robes for a martial artist, but his head was not shaved.
"I was once, long ago. My ideas didn't quite mesh up with them so I left. " He sighed.
A door behind him slid open and a woman entered carrying a tray of tea. "The tea is ready."
"Ah excellent. Honored Friend, kindly share a cup with me." he nodded to the woman. "Oh my! My Guest, I have not even asked your name. I am Cynis Apium, and this is my wife Scillia. Please allow me to know yours."
"Pall, and I will have some thank you." The woman set the tray down between Apium and Pall and handed him one of the fine jade cups filled with a emerald liguid, her hand brushing his softly. She bowed, pinched Apium affectionately on the shoulder, and was gone.
The tea smelled of fresh grass, and had a hint of mint, but as Pall lifted it to his mouth he remembered that he had sworn off all food but rice and water as a meditation aid. He set the tea back down.
"Now for the question." Apium smiled again. "Why did I leave the Immaculate order?"

by **AlaskanWyvern** Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:06 am

((I think you are the only one, haha. As it says in your sig, the smallest we have is a day's wage. Unless there's a pieces-of-eight system, it's useless for everything except government-level transactions and large paychecks. Want to order in a restaurant? Lol, nope.
And I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to knock down my resources rating or something.))

by eagle788 Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:11 am

after wandering throughout the crowds Obsidian decides to head back to Flipper's place.

by CodexGigas Sat Jul 16, 2011 5:25 am

Wok in the Park, as most could tell by the name, was not known for class. It was a high-volume noodle joint concerned with getting food in people and money in the till. The atmosphere didn't matter. As long as it didn't kill anyone.

Cooks only half-seen through murky smoke pushed the daily specials, "Deep-fried noodles! King Tarek's favorite in this life and afterlife! Buy for you! Buy for ancestors! Buy for sacrifice to ghost of king!" There must have been at least 20 employees hurrying around in the greasy brown smock that was apparently the restaurant's uniform.

Crowds were packed into the dim, rickety structure. Three stories, but the floors were little more than crisscrossing catwalks, letting the smoke and noise rise up through the whole building. Men in ceremonial masks came up through the catacombs to grab a bowl in between rituals, sightseers wandered in from the streets, and tenants from adjoining buildings got in dragons-know-how.

The second floor was harder to get through than the first. Originally just seating, the proprietors had decided to make a little extra silver by renting space to purveyors of drinks and entertainment. It was impossible to go more than a few feet without being accosted by an amateur musician plucking away at a broken pipa or trying to sell you muddy looking tea to go with your noodles and entertainment.

Rooms were on the third floor. They weren't quiet, but they were cheap and everyone minded his own business.

((Int+Socialize rolls from Obsidian and Flipper))

by eagle788 Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:31 pm

Int + Socialize (3+0)

by The_GM Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:31 pm

The member 'eagle788' has done the following action : Dice roll

'd10' : 6, 6, 8

by **AlaskanWyvern** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:00 pm

rolling 6.

by The_GM Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:00 pm

The member 'AlaskanWyvern' has done the following action : Dice roll

'd10' : 10, 3, 2, 8, 7, 1

by CodexGigas Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:07 pm

Narakan art celebrated stability. Society grew from solid foundations; this made Pasiap an especially popular topic in song, poetry, architecture--a stylized representation of his name based off of some forgotten dialect could even be found carved or painted on most domestic tools, ㅡㄱㅁ. Three simple symbols, representing increasing stability and order.

They were even carved onto the lip of the bowls at the Wok in the Park (although grease stains sometimes hid this fact). On his way up to his room, Flipper noticed that the bowls of several patrons reversed these symbols ㅁㄴㅡ, suggesting loss of order, a horrifying concept to anyone born in Naraka.

by **AlaskanWyvern** Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:15 pm

The upside-down Pasiap symbols were definitely a curiosity. Perhaps there was a disgruntled worker making those particular bowls? Flipper set down his maps in his room, secured it such as was possible, and then returned to the dining area. Out of curiosity, he decided to scan and see if there was a pattern to where these bowls were.

((int/occ to know about the possibility of nearby resonance expenditure; if excellencies are applicable, I'm adding 2 successes to it, making the roll in the room, and quieting the tell before going downstairs. Second roll is per/awareness for seeing if there's a pattern; particularly if they're grouped in any area of the place, or around a certain person. +3 dice to that; if I'm reading the Revlid fix right, there shouldn't be a Tell from those last three motes.))

by **AlaskanWyvern** Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:40 pm

((It would help if I actually rolled, wouldn't it?))

by The_GM Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:40 pm

The member 'AlaskanWyvern' has done the following action : Dice roll

#1 'd10' : 8, 9, 10, 2, 6, 4

--------------------------------

#2 'd10' : 4, 4, 2, 2, 10, 4, 1, 1, 10, 4

by CodexGigas Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:00 pm

Flipper had seen the effects of Resonance on religious icons before; he doubted that it had anything to do with the bowls though. The bowls weren't consecrated to Pasiap, just utilitarian art expressing his attributes.

There wasn't an immediately obvious pattern to who had the bowls, except maybe a slightly higher proportion of cloaked men who took their noodles to eat alone in dark corners. But then again, what local eatery wasn't full of mysterious men in dark corners these days?

There seemed to be a roughly equal split between genders, as well as locals and visitors.

A morbidly obese man singing "It's a long, long way to Yaa-ne!" and plucking on a broken liuqin had a bowl for tips in front of him. It wasn't one of the Wok's bowls, too flat, but it did have ㅁㄴㅡ carved on the rim, almost out of sight unless you were looking for it. That ruled out a disgruntled restaurant worker. Maybe a bowl-maker in Meido had a blasphemous sense of humor?

by **AlaskanWyvern** Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:20 pm

The busker. It had to be the busker, didn't it? Flipper made a note to check his ears for signs of bleeding later and fished around in his pockets for small change. He approached the "musician," waited for the song to finish, and tossed a coin in the bowl. Another coin or two was visible in his relaxed hand afterwards.
"Say, nice tip bowl," he said, straining to find something positive to say without sounding awkward. "Where'd you get it?"

by CodexGigas Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:33 pm

The busker's smile widened to the point that his eyes practically closed. "It very nice, yes? Custom. From Sana-Hosay. Do you know the way to Sana-Hosay?" His smile remained frozen, waiting for Flipper's response.

by **DagonXIII** Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:19 am

The old man suddenly burst out laughing leaving Pall staring awkwardly as Apium bent over, his hand holding his stomach.
"Will you tell me whats so funny?"
The ice of his words calmed Apium. "Sorry. I've been trying to get a accurate read of you, but the thought of me as one of those monks! I've spent most of my life hating them. Heh, imagine... " He laughed a bit softer for a moment.
"Please explain."
"No." His voice echoed for a moment, as it changed from laughter to lightning. "When I drew my sword a minute ago, most people would have flinched." His voice fell to almost a wisper " No-one would be eager to fight an old dragon. Except you. And a quick test confirmed my suspicions."
Pall's body tensed again, ready to spring. "And?"
"A long time ago, I was approached by a man. He told me four words: Justice to the Wicked." Apium took his sword in hand, and held it up again.
Justice to the Wicked. He liked how they sounded. Death, Conflict, but from them light. Pall reached forward and held his hand open, palm down. Shadows from across the room pulled tight, stretching to his outstretched hand. Then with a twist they were back, and in his hand was a Seven Ring Staff.
"I was once ordered to kill a man. A friend tracked him to a inn just outside a city. As I approached I saw a young girl and her sister playing in the garden, so I scared them off. My master tracked them down, beat them into soulsteel, and gave it to me as a gift for 'a job well done.' I swore then that one day I'd drive it through his face." Pall bowed before the old man. "Please. You must know someone or somehow to find people who need to be brought to justice. I... need to fight; and to hone my martial arts."
The old man cheered."Yes! I knew from the start you would be interesting. I'll get everything in order for you." He stood up and circled the room excitedly, looking in a couple of the corners for something. "Of course, you'll have to run some more trials before we completely trust you, but that's normal. Hmm.. Alright then, Come back tomorrow and I'll have everything."
Pall stood up, confused. He waited politely for a moment but Apium waved his hands 'sho! sho!' He spun the staff back into shadows, picked up his rice and left.

by **AlaskanWyvern** Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:50 am

Flipper vacillated. If he said yes, that was likely to prompt another song. If he said no, then he may not get what he wanted. "No?" he said, unsure of the result. He tried to be casual about the other coin he tossed into the bowl. "Can you just tell me?"

by eagle788 Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:56 am

After making his way to Flipper's apartment Obsidian sees the maps laying out and decides to look over them. he makes special note of interesting land marks between town and between the towns and their manses, he also starts to plan out the best routs to take for speed as well as stealth in the event of needing a quick getaway and a place to hide.

by CodexGigas Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:18 am

The liuqin player kept smiling, "It very far. Not worth trip." His smile inched up a little more at the corners. Nobody could smile that much. Maybe he had some sort of disease. "Any requests? Know songs from West, East, any direction."

((Perception+Socialize from Flipper. Int+Larceny or Survival for Obsidian, +1 for the maps))

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